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Confirmed with Link: Senators are for sale - and it’s a Gong Show

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“While we must respect the non-disclosure rules inherent to the bidding process, we can confirm that we are in discussions with one of the bidders about making a meaningful investment in the Ottawa Senators, in consultation with all members of Kitigan Zibi,” Whiteduck wrote in a statement.

Although Whiteduck did not divulge the identity of which group they are in discussions with, a person who was briefed on the situation confirmed to The Athletic that Whiteduck was referring to the Neko Sparks ownership group in his statement. Representatives from the Sparks group and KZA have met multiple times over the past few days, as there have been at least four separate meetings over the past 48 hours. Over the weekend, Sportsnet reported that the Sparks consortium had offered First Nations groups an equity stake in the Senators.

If the Sparks group does not emerge victorious in this process, KZA is hopeful the winning bidder will use their negotiations as a template moving forward.

“We invite whichever ownership group is ultimately approved by the Melnyk family and the NHL to embrace this moment,” Whiteduck said in his statement. “Now is the time to set a new tone in the relationship between Canada’s First Nations, the investors who help revitalize important organizations such as the Senators, and lands such as LeBreton, as well as governments who have the ability to facilitate such initiatives.”

The two sides have not signed a formal agreement, but the Sparks group and KZA have discussed the broad strokes of what an investment partnership would entail. Before entering into any formal agreement, Whiteduck would need to take the framework of the deal back to his community for council approval. KZA would need to debate the merits of entering such an agreement and get the majority of community approval before moving forward.
 
I wonder if that could be seen as an unfair advantage for a bidder unless of course, this just confirmed Neko as leading the process as the preferred bidder??
 
Gil Gunderson said:
They all had the chance to do it. Reynolds did it too.
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further, the article indicates that the native group said they have spoken to other groups and would use whatever they talk to Sparks about as a template to use for working with whoever ends up being the winning bidder.

It's a bit symbiotic here. The native group wants to draw some sort of line in the sand as to what they expect and Sparks needs (I think) 1) investors 2) the PR bump as bids are considered.
 
As it stands now, we believe Andlauer, a minority owner of the Montreal Canadiens, Jeffrey and Michael Kimel, former partners in the Pittsburgh Penguins, and Apostolopoulos, who is funding the bid on his own and isn’t believed to have any partners, all have equal footing.

Postmedia first reported Apostolopoulos was involved in this process in late-March and a few days later he appeared at the Canadian Tire Centre with former NHLer Nick Kypreos working as an adviser.

The Sparks group, which includes rapper Snoop Dogg, has received a lot of attention, but we’re not sure where it stands because it has at least 20 partners and the NHL doesn’t always like that scenario. Sources say he has the backing of British businessmen David and Simon Reuben.

Sparks bid $925 million in the first round March 6 and, in a 16-page deck he sent to prospective investors, he was trying to get financing in place to make a $950-million bid at the end. He recently reached out to a First Nation’s Group to bring them in as partners.

Sources confirmed Wednesday there are concerns with the viability of one of the bids. That group wasn’t identified, but those issues need to be sorted out for that bid to move forward so this may be a three-horse race in fairly short order if one is eliminated.
 
I guess a Kimel/Andlauer ownership with local and First Nations partners would be the best case scenario. Astopolopoulos' last second decision to make a bid, working with Kypreos, and him basically trying to land any sports team that becomes available doesn't really indicate he's going to be the greatest owner.

Neko Sparks has too many questions and we don't need the controversy with the potential Saudi ties with the Reubens.
 
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Gil Gunderson said:
Should he not report what he's told?
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The title of that blurb is "First Nations community aligns with Sparks' Senators bid" but if you read on, there doesn't seem to be any sort of alignment, yet:

The two sides have not signed a formal agreement, but the Sparks group and KZA have discussed the broad strokes of what an investment partnership would entail. Before entering into any formal agreement, Whiteduck would need to take the framework of the deal back to his community for council approval. KZA would need to debate the merits of entering such an agreement and get the majority of community approval before moving forward.
Click to expand...

“We invite whichever ownership group is ultimately approved by the Melnyk family and the NHL to embrace this moment,” Whiteduck said in his statement. “Now is the time to set a new tone in the relationship between Canada’s First Nations, the investors who help revitalize important organizations such as the Senators, and lands such as LeBreton, as well as governments who have the ability to facilitate such initiatives.”
Click to expand...

It’s believed KZA had exploratory talks with at least three prospective owners who have expressed an interest in purchasing the Ottawa Senators. In addition to the Sparks group, KZA also had discussions with the group fronted by Ryan Reynolds and the Remington Group, which withdrew its bid for the hockey club last week. At least one other bidder remaining in the process has engaged in a conversation with KZA, but it’s unclear if that conversation was held with the group headed by Michael Andlauer, Steve Apostolopoulos or the Kimel family.
Click to expand...

So it seems like the story actually is that KZA wants a stake in the franchise/development and have had exploratory talks with three of the groups, but there is no partnership with anyone yet. Very different conclusion if you read the article vs. scan the headline.
 
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Interview with Friedman about the sale process. Pretty much says that Bettman wanted Reynolds to stay neutral until the end and he could work with the winning bid. Remington tried to buy the Coyotes years ago as well but backed out when they didn't like the development deal, so the NHL was a bit irritated by them and that's probably why Bettman was caught off-guard with Reynolds picked them.

Also talks about the Neko Sparks group and how the NHL doesn't like giant consortiums instead of one significant majority owner.
 
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This is such a shit show. Give me the Kimel brothers and or Andlauer. f*** the Sparks group and everyone else trying to hop aboard.
 
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